As of Friday, Tottenham Hotspur has the fifth-best odds of winning the Premier League and 11th-best odds to win the Champions League, which is an imprecise (but useful) way of saying that everything is on track right now. It has not always felt that way through 10 competitive matches, but Spurs should not complain about sitting in third place after seven matches when Aston Villa comes to town in the bottom half of the table.
After three straight seasons in the top seven, Villa has some work to do
in order to end up in Europe again. Five straight winless league contests finally gave way to consecutive victories before the international window, but a stretch of Tottenham, City, Liverpool, and Bournemouth could see the club sink right back down towards the bottom. Obviously Villa has plenty of talent, but the terrible start certainly raised some eyebrows.
Match Details
Date: Sunday, October 19
Time: 9:00 am ET, 2:00 pm UK
Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
TV: USA Network (US), Sky Sports Main Event (UK)
Table: Spurs (t-3rd, 14 pts), Villa (t-11th, 9 pts)
Spurs lost at Villa Park right before the Europa League final last season and were also knocked out of the FA Cup in the Fourth Round at the same venue. The previous meeting in North London was much more positive, however, with Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke (x2), and James Maddison all scoring in a 4-1 win after falling behind at half, the fourth coming on an impressive free kick:
Three Big Questions
Are Villa’s struggles over? Even after scoring three against Fulham and two against Burnley, Villa are still near the bottom of the league in goals (with the fourth-lowest non-penalty xG) thanks to four scoreless outings to start the year. However, four straight wins across the Premier League and Europa League have quickly silenced a lot of the early fears.
Maybe the brace from Donyell Malen right before the break will inspire some production from Ollie Watkins, Emi Buendia, and Morgan Rogers, who all should challenge a Spurs defense that has opened itself up to some questions despite just allowing five league goals. The chance creation has been much better from Unai Emery’s squad as of late, and while the frigid open to the year cannot be ignored, water is going to find its level.
Could the striker position actually have options? Last time we saw Tottenham it was Mathys Tel who started, scored, and played pretty well as the No. 9 against Leeds. Maybe this was out of desperation with Richarlison the only other healthy striker and Tel’s ineligibility in Europe, but it was a reassuring sign for Thomas Frank to have another option up top.
Hopefully the returns of Dominic Solanke and Randal Kolol Muani are near, as Spurs are in desperate need of more production (and will need multiple available bodies for the upcoming run). Goals from the No. 9 would be very welcome, but even just better hold-up play is essential. Villa has allowed the second-fewest shots on target this year and has conceded multiple goals just once in 10 matches across all competitions, so a spark will have to come from somewhere.
How about another four-goal outburst? Despite Villa’s stingy defense, two of the past four league contests between these sides were a 4-0 Spurs win on the road and the aforementioned 4-1 win at home last November. Both of those matches featured slower starts from the Tottenham attack but ended as some of the more impressive showings of their respective seasons.
Will this be another four-goal outpouring or will it instead mirror a 2-1 loss that paired with those wins in each of the last two seasons? Given both team’s form it feels unlikely that Spurs simply unleash the floodgates, but given the upcoming fixture list, it would be nice to see everything start to click. This feels like a tricky way to begin that stretch, but recent history suggests there could be a satisfying result ahead.
